Spending time with my family has proved to be a form of self-care and self-awareness. I love being with them but I now realize how much it takes out of me to engage with people I love, especially after having a rough couple of weeks (and who am I kidding–months). I wanted to be there for all of it but I found myself crashing pretty hard in the evenings. I even dealt with feelings of guilt for not being able to put on a more exuberant and fresh face but everyone understood.
Artist’s Way update: I didn’t really start The Artist’s Way but I read the Foreward and the Introduction. I also started writing my morning pages which is supposed to be 3 pages of stream of consciousness journaling with no expectations attached. I plan on diving into the first chapter tomorrow. Just like previous journaling practice, I feel more centered after doing it. It’s as if my brain believes it has accomplished a great feat first thing in the morning.
I was looking forward to seeing if morning pages would affect my anxiety level throughout the day. I can confidently say I was calmer right after but since I wasn’t in my usual environment, it is hard to gauge if it made much of a difference after that.
Today, I wrote and prayed and walked and worked and trusted.
Trusted that I left on my heart and my most hopeful, erratic, loving thoughts on the page.
Trusted the process.
Kristina Hamlett writes to connect, heal, and be a force for change. 
I love Morning Pages! I’ve been trying to do them more regularly again, but also not beating myself up when they don’t happen (sometimes that works). I notice a huge difference in my writing when I’m doing Morning Pages, but even more importantly, my anxiety levels do go down. Also, I love that they are a place to process, or in some cases pre-process (yeah, I just made that term up), everything in my life. They give me such clarity some days.
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I love that you made up “pre-process!” It has been helpful with anxiety for me, too!
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